Last week I had the joy of attending the inaugural meeting of the International Orthodox Theological Association (IOTA), a meeting that exceeded the expectations of the organizers. This effort was conceived by several scholars who were present at the Holy and Great Council on Crete, and after much discussion felt that there would be a benefit to having a range of Orthodox scholars from different disciplines meeting to talk about different aspects of Church life. It is hard to imagine that such a discussion could lead to a reality only two years later, but the intense effort of a few individuals (Paul Gavryliuk, President; Carrie Frederick-Frost, Secretary; Catalin Jeckel, local organizer; and myself) a chair’s conference occurred in Jerusalem in 2018. This Chair’s conference set the stage for the IOTA meeting. The co-chairs of each section selected speakers and topics and organized the sessions with the only constraint being that the best leaders in each field should be chosen. The hope was that the caliber of speakers would attract a large group, and indeed this was the case.
I was extremely honored to be a part of St. Vladimir’s team. Throughout the entire process, Seminary President Fr. Chad Hatfield and Board member Frank Cerra have been supportive providing advice and discussion liberally throughout the planning process. Our faculty were also involved (Peter Bouteneff, for example, serves as chair of one of the theology sections). Romanian hospitality was more than could have been expected with Metropolitan Teofan hosting the entire group at his residence several times for receptions and dinners.
For me what made the conference exceptional was the program of scholars who presented. We often had five or six simultaneous sessions, and everyone felt that choosing among them was difficult. The topics were of broad interest, the speakers were incredible, and most importantly the discussion was civil and academic. I remember well at the session on Ukrainian autocephaly that speakers on both sides of the discussion participated and that there was broad disagreement among the scholars, yet the discussion was civil, academic and agreeable and at the end the scholars remained friendly and pleasant to each other and to the audience. This is the type of discourse our Church needs today. I believe that meetings of this type are sorely needed by the Church. The next chairs’ conference is scheduled for 2021 and the next IOTA full meeting will take place in 2023. I hope that the interim will involve publication of proceedings, planning for the future, and working at enhancing participation even further!
